Tips on Making a Honey Label & Picking a Jar

I've been a graphic designer longer than a beekeeper, so here are my tips on making a honey label whether you're looking for it to be a high end-looking label you can price a little higher than the rest or go the less expensive route. I'll also talk about what has to be on there and what people always ask to be on there and touch on the best jars for a nice-looking honey as well as best for shipping.

[@michelleadams1210]

Some great advice there! Thank you.
I'm in Australia, so honey labelling has different requirements from authorities, but the other information is good to know. You cracked me up with your parting comments!! Wishing you well. 😊🐝

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks and you're welcome! Gotta love my end of video rambling. I could blame it on being a sleep-deprived mom of a newborn, but I ramble even when I'm not tired :p

[@lindagray5857]

If I am selling at a farmers market, I will have a sample of the different honeys for people to try. They like tasting first. Lots of good info here.

[@aprilhouk4638]

Thank you so much for all this information. I really appreciate it. We just began out adventure with our bees... we are excited and have a great deal of knowledge. We really hope to have a lot of success.
I will use all this information you gave. ❤❤❤

[@so_cal_mom]

So helpful thank you!

[@noahriding5780]

Your label is very nice.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thank you!

[@citrumpet1]

Thanks for sharing. I recently bottled and labeled about 100 jars and it crystallized before I could sell it. Any tips on how to avoid that? I guess keep it warmer and filter it finer... And maybe not label it until just before it goes out the door in case I have to heat the bottle to decrystallize.

[@dennismoore6437]

Good info

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks

[@noahriding5780]

Very nice topic.
I've been wondering about something else but related to this topic.
I like the idea that glass jars are safer hygenically and less bacteria issues than plastic. But... I'm not sure what the return claims would be by using glass jars of honey to ship to people compared to plastic? With plastic they could only claim a leak, if that even, but the plastic isn't going to break. Although maybe glass wouldn't break that much, but there's always a chance someone will try to claim such (?)
I'm curious to know if you are only using glass jars (small), what would the typical refund claim percentage be due to problems with glass compared to plastic?
Thanks.

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Ugh shipping! Boy do I hate shipping! I used to work for a honey packer and they had soooooo many shipping issues. They hired another company to pack and ship their orders at a rate of $5 per box but they still had them. Eventually, they paid quite a bit of money to have cardboard inserts made that perfectly fit their jars so all you have to do is roll up a cardboard piece and put their 47oz jar in it. Or one piece fit 3 of their 9 ounce jars ( you could only buy their 9 oz jars in packs of 3.) It is also was more eco friendly since you didn't need packing peanuts anymore.
That being said, as someone with a lot less online orders, I don't often have complaints for jars breaking or leaking. Once I switched from canning jars to the hex jars, I didn't have a single complaint for over a year. But then COVID hit and I had way more complaints over that holiday season. I also made the mistake of using biodegradeable packing peanuts. It sounded like a good idea, in theory, but when they get wet they shrivel up so you can imagine what happens when 1 jars leaks or breaks - the whole box is a huge sticky mess. 1 person emailed me a photo of a wet box in a plastic bag on their doorstep from the mailman.
That honey company I worked for sold their mac nut honey in a plastic squeeze bottle and in a glass jar - the same exact honey. The squeeze bottle didn't sell nearly as well as the glass jar. I'm sure there's a lot less issues with shipping plastic to glass, it would be a lot easier and faster to pack a box full of plastic bottles to glass bottles, you can use those seals on the top of the plastic bottles and shipping is cheaper since they're so much lighter, but if you're looking to sell a higher end food product (the honey farm I worked for called it "gourmet honey") you're going to want the glass jars. Also, most people don't buy honey online. The people who go out looking for honey online are serious honey lovers or foodies and those people like glass jars. They know the annoyances of honey in a little plastic bottle that can't fit a spoon and they also might think less of the honey if it's in a cheaper plastic squeeze bottle. Some people even assume the plastic squeeze bottles are the fake honeys.
In my experience, so few people lie about an item arriving broken. You can always ask that they send you a photo.
Have you had issues shipping honey???

[@noahriding5780]

@@BeekeepingMadeSimple I haven't yet had troubles. But I'm anticipating them also because everywhere I go its hard to not see how people treat each other. And then there's also the fact that, I still don't know what the heck I'm doing. And I was still trying to figure out how to brand and package what I want to do. So that's why I asked. Even right now the extraction process for me is rough and hard, while I figure it out. I tried a hand extractor. And then the frames were so heavy that the combs would break off and just fall to the bottoms when i was trying to spin them in the extractor.
I'll let you know if I have anything to share more later on this, and wish I could contribute more.
But something very interesting going on right now is that wheat prices are going up really fast. Wheat feeds everything...except bees. Petrol going up. And from my experience I run into so many cheaters in every field I've worked in that I think there's more opportunity for people like us who are really doing the work and can differentiate ourselves from the others. I think there's opportunity to find ways to market that aren't being done by others, because people are noticing that a lot of the corporations that make everything don't have their best interests in mind and cheat on the product. I've heard that people put oatmeal in ground meat now to fluff it. And I've heard of other things being added to cheese and other products. This means for those of us with a pure raw product we can gain some marketing momentum.
It may also open some local opportunities because transportation is getting more expensive.

[@KelseyKayyy]

Where do you get the label rolls from?

[@Steve-ey6iw]

Do u know where to get made

[@HoneyBeeMade]

I recently discovered you on TH-cam and am enjoying your videos. Can I ask where you purchase your honeycomb containers?

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Thanks! I purchased my honeycomb cases from pioneer plastics. They hold 14-ish oz of comb (4.25" square) and they offer free shipping for orders over $100. I also use the soft clamshells when selling comb to catering companies and restaurants since the case is going to be throw away. I got those from Mann Lake and hold about 12-is oz (4" square).

[@HoneyBeeMade]

@@BeekeepingMadeSimple Thank you so much for the information!

[@guamlegalmovement6713]

Does Big Island Bees still carry your comb honey?

[@BeekeepingMadeSimple]

Yes, they do. I don't know if they sell it online, but it is at their shop.

[@guamlegalmovement6713]

@@BeekeepingMadeSimple Ah, I see. Do you have any other sites I may purchase online? Thanks

[@simeonovs4443]

Putting raw honey in microwave? :D ok